by Jonas Johasson
Allan Karisson, the centenarian, decides to leave his nursing home and avoid the imminent celebration in search of adventure (to which he is no stranger as we learn).
Having climbed out the window (slippers and all) he embarks on exploits of magnitude somewhat unbelievable. He befriends would be criminals hotdog stand owner an elephant and owner and a future partner all made possible by the acquisition of a case of money.
In a Forest Gump style his life background purports to have experienced and witnessed many important 20th century events relating often to explosions. This was indeed his early life passion. His travels and meetings include encounters with Stalin, Churchill, Truman, Mao,
Franco and de Gaulle.
The book keeps one quite intrigued as to who the next character will be and what anecdote will be revealed with the use of flash backs in time.
The general opinions were:
A fun bouncy clever story
Quirky
Cartoonish
A bit long and wearisome
Coenesque
A geriatric fairy tale
Slightly unbelievable
Well written
The average rating was 7 out of 10
From "A Novel Approach" :
Thank you so much Marty for a beautiful end of year meeting. Hope everyone has a restful and enjoyable holiday.
Our next meeting is at Jane's on Feb 12th 2015, Thursday.
We will be discussing the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Please bring along your 2015 book selection.
